Vietnam president's resignation suggests party power struggle

HANOI -- The resignation of Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong marks an abrupt reversal of fortune for a man once considered a leading candidate for the one-party state's most powerful post, and hints at a power struggle in the Communist Party.

Hanoi gave little information about Thuong's resignation from the largely ceremonial role of president, saying only that he had violated party rules. He had been in office for just a year.